A Tumultuous Day for Pelfrey, and Another Loss by the Mets

Justin Upton of the Diamondbacks sliding into third base ahead of the Mets' David Wright.Credit
Christian Petersen/Getty Images

PHOENIX — The stream of weirdness that flows generously from the Mets adheres to a certain ebb and flow.

For days at a time, it will run dry, exposing them as the mostly middling team they appear to be on paper. Then, as quick as a flash, the torrent returns, flooding their clubhouse with a layer of surrealism.

Examples of this abound. There were the freakish injuries to their star players, which came in bunches, sometimes two in a day. There was the stretch of late-inning losses and walk-off wins, which became an everyday sight for a spell earlier this month.

And add to those the abnormal series of events experienced by Mike Pelfrey on Saturday, which culminated in a 6-4 Mets loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in front of a crowd of 33,552 at Chase Field.

Pelfrey’s day started with a bit of confusion, when Jason Bay teasingly told him to be more careful about what he said so that the Mets would not have to answer unnecessary questions from reporters. Pelfrey did not know what Bay was referring to. He was oblivious to the fact that a story in The New York Post on Saturday had quoted him as saying it had always been “unrealistic” that the Mets could “win it all” this season — and that the article had been laced with negativity.

“I had a conversation yesterday, and I left it thinking I had a good talk, a positive talk,” Pelfrey said of the interview. “I didn’t think I said a negative thing. That’s why I was shocked.”

The quotation appeared fairly innocuous and came from a larger conversation, also mentioned in the article, in which Pelfrey criticized his own performance this season and praised the direction the Mets’ new front office had set. Nevertheless, the article included a quotation from an unnamed Mets player who criticized Pelfrey for his comments and for his performance this season.

So Pelfrey felt compelled to interrupt his pregame routine — an almost sanctified few hours for a starting pitcher — to clear the air with Manager Terry Collins in a private 10-minute meeting in Collins’s office.

“I didn’t want to talk to him before a game he was going to pitch,” Collins said. “But he wanted to clear the air immediately; he didn’t want it to linger.”

Though his pregame routine was disturbed, Pelfrey surprised his manager and himself by pitching better than he had in recent memory. After giving up a pair of runs in the first inning, Pelfrey settled into a nice groove, using a heavy sinker to move briskly through the Diamondbacks’ order.

The Mets’ offense, meanwhile, battled back for him. Two runs off Diamondbacks starter Daniel Hudson in the second and two more in the fourth gave the Mets a 4-2 lead. And even Pelfrey, who entered the game with a .050 average, contributed to the offense, driving in the fourth Mets’ run when he lined a rare hit to right field.

When Pelfrey got to first base, he smiled widely and turned to direct a claw gesture to his teammates in the visitors’ dugout.

But the smile soon turned into a scowl.

The next inning, Gerardo Parra pounded a line drive up the middle, pegging Pelfrey on his throwing elbow. By the time the ball ricocheted toward Ruben Tejada, who could not complete the out from shortstop, Collins was halfway to the mound.

Pelfrey argued animatedly and at length with Collins, trying to stay in the game. Other players appeared to chime in. Finally, Pelfrey handed Collins the ball and stalked off the field.

“A tough day for him today,” Collins said. “He came to the ball park. He’s getting ready to pitch, and he gets hammered with things he didn’t expect, and then he gets hit with a line drive on one of the days that he had some of his best stuff.”

In all, over the course of the long and strange day, Pelfrey threw only 50 pitches.

“The elbow feels good,” Pelfrey said. “The frustrating part was I thought I had good stuff tonight for the first time in six or seven starts.”

Upon Pelfrey’s departure, the Diamondbacks quickly took the lead with Ryan Robert’s three-run homer to left field. They added another run in the sixth.

After the game, the Mets reiterated that there were no hard feelings toward Pelfrey, who has by his own admission struggled this season. He is 6-9 this year despite being tabbed before the season as the team’s ace in the absence of Johan Santana. Entering the 2012 season, the last of his Mets contract, Pelfrey could be a prime candidate to be traded.

But for now, the Mets’ clubhouse, which in fact has seemed much more harmonious this season than in years past, remains in his corner.

“We know what kind of guy he is, and we know what kind of teammate he is,” David Wright said. “I know I speak for the entire clubhouse when I say we have his back.”

A version of this article appears in print on August 14, 2011, on page SP3 of the New York edition with the headline: A Turbulent Day for Pelfrey, And Another Loss by the Mets. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe